Randy Roth: How Many of His 4 Wives Did He Murder?

On July 23, 1991, a sweltering 99-degree day, Cynthia Baumgartner Roth and her husband Randy Roth went rafting at Lake Sammamish, a popular recreation spot near Seattle. Cynthia’s two sons, Tyson, 11, and Riley, 9, sat on the beach and eagerly awaited their parents’ return.

Finally, they spotted Randy rowing to shore at a leisurely pace. A commotion soon broke out, with Cynthia’s body lying motionless at the bottom of the raft, her face and upper torso blue, according to Fatal Charm: The Shocking True Story of Serial Wife Killer Randy Roth.

Attempts to revive Cynthia failed and she was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Randy’s unemotional demeanor and notable lack of urgency throughout the ordeal contributed to his October 1991 arrest and April 1992 first-degree murder conviction—as did his eagerness to collect his wife’s insurance policy.

And when investigators dug into Randy’s past, they uncovered an alarming detail: one of the auto mechanic’s previous wives, Janis Miranda Roth, had died in 1981 under suspicious circumstances. Randy was also the only witness in that case, but he never faced trial.

The Roth family moved to western Washington State from Bismarck, N.D., in the late 1950s when Randy was about 5 years old. Randy was the oldest of five children and his parents divorced in 1971. Roth’s mother, Lizabeth Roth, once said her ex-husband, Gordon Roth, discouraged his children from expressing emotion.

Randy’s younger brother David Roth was convicted in 1979 of first-degree murder for strangling a woman he picked up while she was hitchhiking. He told a court-appointed psychologist that he depended largely on his mother because his father had beat him, according to The Seattle Times.

"Whenever [Gordon] wanted to do something to me or the other kids, my mom would stand up to him," David testified during his trial. In contrast, Randy told a probation officer that his mother was overprotective, and that he had a better relationship with his father, The Seattle Times reported.

In the 1970s, Randy was briefly engaged to Terri Hitchcock, whom he had dated for more than two years in high school. Hitchcock said she repeatedly forgave Randy for telling lies about his past and dating other women.

At age 20, Randy pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary charges for breaking into Hitchcock’s parents’ home and received a 14-year sentence, with all but two weeks suspended. Hitchcock broke off the engagement and Randy was released on June 10, 1975.

Randy married his first wife, Donna Sanchez, in July 1975. At first, Roth had “that strong, protective type of personality” and was “very romantic,” Sanchez told The Seattle Times. He had held multiple jobs by the time the couple separated in 1979 and divorced in May 1980. Randy gained custody of the couple’s son, Greg.

Randy soon got married for a second time, to Janis. The day after Thanksgiving 1981, the couple went hiking in Oregon’s Beacon Rock State Park, which features Beacon Rock, the exposed core of a volcano that rises 848 feet.

That’s when Janis died under suspicious circumstances—with Randy as the only witness. According to The New York Daily News, Randy told police the couple was near the top of the rock when Janis slipped on pine needles and fell 300 feet, landed on a cliff and died. Authorities ruled the death an accident. Janis’s body was quickly cremated and Randy collected a $100,000 life insurance policy.

Janis and Randy’s later wives had complained to friends and family that he grew distant after marriage despite actively pursuing each woman during their courtship. The women also claimed that their difficulties with Randy typically involved money. Investigators were convinced he was behind Janis’s death but did not have the evidence they needed for criminal charges.

"There were only two people there," Skamania County Sheriff Ray Blaisdell pointed out to The Seattle Times. "There were no witnesses except him, and we just couldn’t come up with enough probable cause to file charges."

Randy’s third wife, Donna Clift, testified at his fourth wife’s murder trial that they once went on a rafting trip with her parents, who were in a different raft. Randy at one point seemed to aim the raft toward rocks instead of into deep water. The raft got punctured and was slowly sinking until it reached a place where her parents were.

“I was screaming, ‘Help me, Dad, help,’” Clift said. “I was scared. Randy kept telling me to shut up.” They divorced in late 1985.

In 1986, Randy had a romantic relationship with Mary Jo Phillips, but it ended after Phillips informed him she had cancer and was uninsurable.

In spring 1990, Randy met Cynthia Baumgartner, whose first husband had died of cancer several years earlier, at a Little League baseball game for their sons. They married shortly after Randy proposed in August 1990.  

When Randy returned to shore at Lake Sammamish on July 23, 1991, with Cynthia dead, his behavior was nothing short of “odd,” according to witnesses. Roth showed little emotion despite attempts by others to resuscitate his wife, prosecutors said in October 1991. They said he stood by idly and “methodically deflated the raft.”

In August 1991, the investigation was reopened into the death of Randy’s second wife, Janis. "It's kind of unusual that two wives die with large insurance [policies] after being married to him less than a year,” Blaisdell told The Seattle Times. 

Also according to The Seattle Times, Rylie, Cynthia’s son, would later testify that, as he wept on the car ride home after his mother’s death, Randy told him, “There’s no need to cry; it’s over with.”

Prosecutors argued that Randy gave inconsistent accounts to investigators about the deaths of his second and fourth wives, and he quickly moved to have Cynthia’s body cremated, just as he did for Janis. This time around, he collected at least $385,000 in life insurance money.

The trial for the murder of Cynthia featured 150 witnesses and defense attorney George Cody pointed out that the evidence against Randy was largely circumstantial. But that didn’t stop a jury from finding him guilty of first-degree murder in April 1992. 

He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Randy was never formally charged in the death of Janis, though the suspicious circumstances surrounding her death were introduced as evidence in his murder trial.

Randy appealed his conviction in 1994 but was denied. He is serving his sentence at the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Washington State.